|
Awards_
USS-USCGC Glacier_5-02
|
|
The May 22,
2002 dinner meeting was held at the Dolan School of Business at
Fairfield University beginning at 6:15 P.M.. The meeting was chaired
by Dr. Rick Weber, who presented Mr. Richard Pitkin with a Life
Time Achievement award. Additionally, Mr. Mahendra B. Patel, Region
I, Vice President was on hand to present Dr. Weber with an award
recognizing his outstanding contribution to ASME as Fairfield County
Section Chairman.
The featured speaker for the evening was Mr. Ben
Koether, the director of the Glacier Society. He presented the history
and restoration of th3 icebreaker ex-USS/USCGC Glacier. He outlined
plans to base the Glacier in Bridgeport. The Fairfield County Section
plans to nominate the Glacier as an ASMENational Historical Landmark.
More information can be found on the web at.http://www.glaciersociety.org. |
| LIFETIME
ACHIEMENT AWARD TO RICHARD PITKIN |
|
 |
Dr.
Richard Weber present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Richard Pitkin
(right) for his many years of service to ASME, within the section
and the region. Mr. Pitkin currently serves as the Section Newsletter
editor. |
| |
HONORS GO TO CHAIRMAN,
DR. WEBER |
| Mr.
Mahendra B. Patel, Region I Vice President (right) presented Dr. Weber
with a recognition of his outstanding service to ASME as Fairfield
County Section Chairman. |
 |
| |
|
| BEN
KOETHER PRESENTS THE GLACIER EXPLOITS |
|
 |
We
had a lot of memorable experiences on that ship," said Koether,
66, a Stratford businessman with a plan to make Captain's Cove Seaport
home to a resurrected Glacier. "I'm going to be standing on that
deck again before I die." |
For
now, though, Koether and the other members of the Glacier Society
will have to settle for standing aboard the deck of one of the Glacier's
support vessels, a 40-foot craft the restorers have dubbed the "Ice
Bucket."
The Bucket, as it's called, is now in dry dock at Captain's Cove,
undergoing extensive rehabilitation in preparation for the Glacier's
arrival, which for the last year or so has been moored in a naval
shipyard about 15 miles south of San Francisco. |
|
THE GLACIER UNDERWAY
roll mouse across photo
|
|
 |
Koether
is working out the final details of plan to find a port willing to
accept the Glacier for a stem-to-stern renovation expected to take
up to three years. While all that's going on, the Glacier Society
is trying to raise the rest of the $26 million needed restore the
vessel and outfit it for its next great adventure. |
If all goes according to plan, Koether
said the Glacier could be tugged away to a new home in the fall. With
enough volunteers and money to complete the work, he said work on
the mammoth vessel could be finished in three years.
While the notion of bringing an icebreaker to Bridgeport may strike
some as fanciful, Koether points out that a number of people didn't
think he and his organization would get as far as it has.
The Glacier Society took possession of the vessel last year, thanks
to a piece of federal legislation pushed through with the help of
U.S. Rep Christopher Shays, R-4. |
last update SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
|
